Vauxhall Mallards have been given the green light to carry on competing in the East Anglian Premier League following the demise of their second team.

EAPL rules stipulate that members must run at least two senior sides, something Mallards no longer do after their A team withdrew from the Norfolk Alliance on Monday because of a shortage of players.

The shock news cast a big shadow over one of the county's most successful clubs, who only last summer won the very last Carter Cup Final, but at least their immediate future now looks secure.

"The EAPL committee has overwhelmingly agreed at this stage to allow the remaining players of Vauxhall Mallards to participate at the highest level possible and to fulfil their remaining fixtures to the end of the 2019 season," said a statement issued by the league yesterday. We will issue further information when the management committee meets on June 5."

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Mallards are currently 16 points adrift at the foot of the league after losing four of their opening five fixtures, with the other one having being cut short by rain.

The seconds, who were relegated from Division One of Alliance last season, fulfilled their first fixture of the season but were forced to concede the next two.

Mallards issued a statement yesterday saying: "As a club we are determined to find ways to rectify this situation and have called an EGM for Wednesday May 29 to discuss ideas and plot the way forward. Having made great progress in terms of grounds and off field structure we are committed to ensuring the future of the club and are investigating a number of avenues.

"The club would like to make it clear that all 1st X1, junior teams, junior training and the All Stars programme will continue as normal and we will be striving to maintain our position in the EAPL. We are actively looking to recruit new players for next season."

Mallards A's demise is second blow for the Alliance in less than a month, with Saham Toney having pulled out of Division Three at the end of April after losing some key players over the winter. The club now run only one team which is competing in Division 3W of the Norfolk League, where their seconds played in 2018.